Minutes before her death, Hina Fathima asked for her children. As they were in Mysore and could not be brought to the hospital, Fathima told her mother that she should not give them away to anyone.
Fathima, the acid attack woman from Mysore, died in Mahabodhi Burns Centre, Victoria Hospital on Tuesday at around 7.30 am, of septicaemia (severe infection).
She was brought there from the KR Hospital, Mysore on August 19.
“Fathima died due to infection because of serious burns. It had spread all over her body, where she was burnt, from her face to her chest, stomach and upper limbs,” said Dr Shankarappa M, professor and head of Department of Plastic Surgery, Mahabodhi Burns Centre, Victoria Hospital.
“She told me not to give her children to anyone just minutes before she died,” said an inconsolable Adeeb Khaleda, Fathima’s mother. Fathima has four children, the youngest, a boy aged two-and-half years was lost some months ago. Fathima, despite being on narcotic analgesic, had not got any reprieve from her pain. “Last night also she was very restless and didn’t sleep a wink. She struggled through the night. I did not knew we will lose her. What was her crime that she met with this kind of death?” said Adeeb.
Post mortem
Fathima’s post mortem was conducted at Victoria Hospital. Her family took back the body to their house in Udaygiri, Mysore. She was later buried in the evening.
“She had a very traumatic life. She used to tell me that her husband Fairoz was very violent and used to beat her often. Two years ago, he shaved her head after she refused to get money from her parents to buy him a scooter. She lived with her parents for a year after that and recently went back to stay with him. She was very worried about her children,” said Fathima’s cousin Tasneem.
Fathima’s children Anmol, Mahak and Sahil aged seven, six and five are yet to come to terms with the fact that their mother is no more.
Meanwhile, the Udaygiri police have registered a case against Fairoz under Section 302 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“This despite her statement that he used to harass her for dowry and on August 8 also, when he threw acid on her and made her drink it alongwith whisky, he threatened her for not getting money from her parents. The police have not mentioned dowry harassment in the FIR. It is very difficult to prove attempt to murder,” said Fathima’s relative.